Clark Bridge

Not to be confused with the George Rogers Clark Memorial Bridge in Louisville, Kentucky.

Clark Bridge
View from West Alton, MO
Other name(s)	Clark Superbridge
Carries	4 lanes of US 67
Crosses	Mississippi River
Locale	West Alton, Missouri and Alton, Illinois
Design	Cable-stayed bridge
Total length	4,620 feet (1,408 m)
Longest span	756 feet (230 m)
Opened	January 1994
Coordinates	38°52′56″N 90°10′44″W / 38.88222°N 90.17889°W / 38.88222; -90.17889

The Clark Bridge is a cable-stayed bridge across the Mississippi River between West Alton, Missouri and Alton, Illinois. Named after explorer William Clark like the bridge it replaced, the cable-stayed bridge opened in 1994. It carries U.S. Route 67 across the river. It is the northernmost river crossing in the Saint Louis metropolitan area.

The new $85 million, 108-foot-wide bridge (33 m) replaced the old Clark Bridge, which was only 20 ft wide (6.1 m).^[1] The truss bridge was built in 1928. The new bridge carries two lanes of divided traffic in each direction, as well as two bike lanes. The old bridge carried only two lanes (similar to the upstream Champ Clark Bridge).

The bridge is sometimes referred to as the Super Bridge. Its construction was featured in a NOVA documentary entitled Super Bridge, which highlighted the challenges of building the bridge, especially during the Great Flood of 1993. Designed by Hanson Engineers under contract to Illinois Department of Transportation (DOT), the Clark Bridge was the first in the United States in which "such a light steel-framed cable-stayed design was combined with a cable saddle type of pylon."^[2] The bridge used 8,100 tons of structural steel; 44,100 cubic yards of concrete; and more than 160 miles of cable wrapped with four acres of yellow plastic piping.^[3]

See also

• List of crossings of the Upper Mississippi River
• Lewis Bridge

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  The Clark Bridge. View is upriver to the northwest from the Melvin Price Locks below the bridge

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  Clark Bridge as seen from the Missouri side of the Mississippi

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  Clark Bridge seen from the Alton Marina

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References

1. ^ David Goodyear and Ralph Salamie, "The Clark Bridge", Civil Engineering, August 1994, accessed 4 Aug 2009
2. ^ David Goodyear and Ralph Salamie, "The Clark Bridge", Civil Engineering, August 1994, accessed 4 Aug 2009
3. ^ "Clark Bridge - Alton, Illinois", Alton Web, accessed 4 Aug 2009

External links

• Clark Bridge at Structurae
• David Goodyear and Ralph Salamie, "The Clark Bridge", from Civil Engineering, August 1994
• "Super Bridge", PBS, Companion page for NOVA episode